Simple Outlook Question - Do Emails Also Get Stored In My .PST File

[Plainman]

I would like to know where my emails get stored when using OUTLOOK 2007.

I mean the actual emails with the attachments etc. I usually back up and save my data.pst file. Are the mails also stored there ? So that after i restore my system i would like to do a fresh reinstall of OUTLOOK and want all my emails back with the same folder structure etc.

I would also like to know where it stores my email account files ? The one where we create the emails with the passwords etc. Or the email accounts / profiles as they might be called. Or will i have to recreate them every time i reinstall OUTLOOK. I have exported the MAIL RULES to a safe place and tried restoring them also and they work fine. I want to do the same for the 5 email id pop3 accounts i have setup in outlook.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Nenu]

I would like to know where my emails get stored when using OUTLOOK 2007.

I mean the actual emails with the attachments etc. I usually back up and save my data.pst file. Are the mails also stored there ? So that after i restore my system i would like to do a fresh reinstall of OUTLOOK and want all my emails back with the same folder structure etc.

Yes.

I would also like to know where it stores my email account files ? The one where we create the emails with the passwords etc. Or the email accounts / profiles as they might be called. Or will i have to recreate them every time i reinstall OUTLOOK. I have exported the MAIL RULES to a safe place and tried restoring them also and they work fine. I want to do the same for the 5 email id pop3 accounts i have setup in outlook.

Password information is encrypted in the registry.

If you dont delete the accounts before reinstalling office they may still be present.
I recall this happening to me a while back.

More info that may help you automate recovery
http://securityxploded.com/outlookpasswordsecrets.php

 

[Plainman]

I just experimented by creating a dummy .pst file and then exiting outlook. It seems like the email folders and content etc are stored in the .pst file but it doesn't store the mail accounts information. So each mail account should be created again to send and receive mail. There is no way to back up the email accounts since i have about 6-7 of them. However it has an export mail rules setting and that works perfectly. You can re import the mail rules in a jiffy. Im trying to see if there is any such solution for the mail identities.

 

[Nenu]

Account data is in the registry.
I checked the location for earlier office versions at least, it isnt the same as in that article.

Search the registry for the type of email you are using, you will find the location of the accounts.
ie
pop3
Email addresses (and account names, server names ...) are written as single hex values per character with 00 in between each.
If your name starts with lower case 'm', the email address starting character will be 6D.
Here is a translation table https://ascii.cl/
I would back up the underlying key and the keys/values/data within it as the data will likely be needed for something.
ie if your account is in a key labelled 00000003, backup (export) the key underneath that to save the other 00000001 and 00000002 keys at least.

I dont know if you can back up/restore the encrypted passwords to the same PC but the other information should copy fine.
Then all you need to do is enter the password, or it might just work.
If you restore to a different OS install, the password shouldnt be valid.

If you are not used to using the registry I suggest you do a complete OS drive backup before starting as you can screw things up.
Type regedit to start the registry editor and use its search function to find things.
Right click a key to export it. (put it somewhere you can find it)
The file it creates can be double clicked to insert into a registry.

 

[Plainman]

Thanks a lot Nenu. A little cryptic as im not that intricately well versed with registry stuff. I found a webpage on google that just shows to export one particular key from the registry and import back when needed. Ill try that. Else ill just manually create the emails if i ever do a fresh Outlook install.